2024-07-09 12:51:51
Paris: Violence has erupted across the country, including the capital Paris, after exit polls indicated a lead for the leftist alliance in the French parliamentary elections. After the second round of elections on Sunday, efforts to form France’s first far-right government suffered a setback, when exit polls projected the leftist alliance winning the maximum number of seats. Marine Le Pen’s anti-Muslim National Rally party, which was leading in the first round, has been projected to be in third place after Sunday’s election. President Emmanuel Macron’s party has been projected to be in second place in the exit polls. After the exit poll results came out, protesters took to the streets and started violence.
Anti-riot police deployed across the country
Video footage showed masked protesters lighting fires and rioting in the streets. Riot police have been deployed across the country in view of the violence. According to a Fox News report, there was an atmosphere of both celebration and violence in Paris after exit polls following the French election suggested a left-wing coalition’s victory. Thousands of people gathered at Paris’ Place de la Republique to celebrate the news of the far-left coalition’s unexpected lead. At the same time, supporters of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, who were hoping to gain power, were shocked by this news.
The police used tear gas
Meanwhile, reports of violence started coming from various cities of France. Videos of violence by protesters have surfaced from various places. At the same time, anti-riot police were seen trying to control the crowd. Police used tear gas at many places amid the clashes. British tabloid The Sun has said in its report that it is not known which party the protesters who came out on the streets amid rising tensions are supporters of. Earlier it was feared that if the right wing wins, violence may erupt.
National Rally moved from first to third place
The National Rally was expected to win the parliamentary election after it won a third of the vote in the first round of voting. But exit polls after the July 7 election indicated that the leftist bloc under the banner of the New Popular Front would win 172 seats while the Emmanuel Macron-led Ensemble was projected to win 150 seats. The National Rally was seen as coming in third with around 132.
The prime minister resigned
After the possibility of the Left Front’s victory, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal revealed on Sunday that he would submit his resignation to President Macron on Monday morning. Attal said, ‘Tonight the Ensemble has won three times the number of seats than predicted, but we do not have a majority. So I will submit my resignation to the President of the Republic.’